Chapter 90: Two Chapters Combined

Chapter 90: Two Chapters Combined

The members of the investigation team went to the police station with Shen Moer.

The director of Liuqiao Police Station, surnamed Liang, heard that a Deputy Director from the South Province Embroidery Factory had also come. Director Liang personally greeted them, shook hands with Ceng Huiru, escorted them to his office, and served them tea himself before explaining the sequence of events.

"A witness from Yangliu Brigade has come forward to testify that Shen Minbing was indeed not in the brigade that day. Later, through our investigations, we also found a witness in the commune. Shen Minbing, unable to keep denying it, has confessed. He was the perpetrator, acting out of spite for being fired."

Ying Jun glanced at Shen Moer and immediately said, "Were there any accomplices? Was someone else behind it?"

Director Liang gave him a thoughtful look and nodded, "There was an accomplice."

Ying Jun became excited, "Who is the accomplice?"

As he spoke, his eyes glanced meaningfully at Shen Moer.

Director Liang, a seasoned professional, knew exactly what he was implying. He said with a smile, "It's Shen Minbing's cousin, Wang Jinbao."

He was quite a character. According to his confession, last year he was beaten up in a sack in the commune. Although his mother Tian Cui and his aunt Tian Fang didn't get along, their cousins often hung out together. After hearing that Shen Minbing was fired, he immediately shared his experience of being beaten up and then went with Shen Minbing to carry it out.

Ying Jun, not hearing what he wanted, couldn't help but make his words clearer, "What about within our factory? Was there anyone in our factory who conspired with him?"

Director Liang said coldly, "There was no conspiracy. Initially, they planned to attack Deputy Director Shen and Comrade Wei Xinyu, but they never got the chance."

Shen Moer didn't usually report to work, and Wei Xinyu lived in the dormitory, often surrounded by people when coming and going. Shen Minbing and his group never got the chance.

Moreover, Shen Minbing was actually afraid that if the matter was exposed, he wouldn't be able to stay in Yangliu Brigade.

From winning awards at the provincial level to building a factory in the commune, bringing villagers to work as factory workers, Shen Moer now had an extremely high reputation in Yangliu Brigade. Along with her educated youth husband, who was doing a great job with crop yield improvement, even the old farmers in the village were convinced. The couple was now more popular than Zhou Mancang.

If he had known he would end up beating someone, he wouldn't dare walk through the village at night anymore.

The police took a statement from Shen Moer, and the group left the police station. The next day, the investigation team left Jiangbei County.

A few days later, the South Province Embroidery Factory issued a notice, transferring Mao Jianxin back to the provincial city. The position of workshop director was temporarily vacant, and Deputy Director Shen Moer was in charge. At the same time, the list for the Canton Fair was released, with both Shen Moer and Jin Caifei going.

Mao Jianxin had been in Jiangbei County for almost a year, originally planning to gain some experience here, using the ninth workshop as a stepping stone to move up.

Of course, this time he was beaten up, and he took the opportunity to make a big deal out of it, also intending to squeeze out Shen Moer.

But even he didn't expect that Ceng Huiru, who had been lukewarm and didn't express much during the investigation in Liuqiao Commune, would submit a sharp report to the factory after returning to the provincial city, directly pointing out that Mao Jianxin was obsessed with power struggles and ignored the development of the ninth workshop.

This report was supported by Deputy Director Qin, who was in charge of the ninth workshop. The two factory leaders joined forces and directly pulled him down from the position of workshop director.

Not only did Mao Jianxin receive a demerit and was demoted to a leisurely department as a deputy section chief, but Ying Jun also didn't fare well, being sidelined by the leadership.

Mao Jianxin really lifted a stone only to drop it on his own foot.

These things were told to Shen Moer by Chen Jiahua over the phone. She laughed heartily on the phone, "Deputy Director Ceng was newly transferred this year, and no one in the factory knows her well. But she is usually gentle and smooth in dealing with people. Mao Jianxin and Ying Jun probably relied on the factory director as their backer and didn't take her seriously. Who knew she was a tough nut to crack? This is truly a case of 'still waters run deep.' I think the factory director is also somewhat wary of her, probably because she has some background."

In any case, Ceng Huiru's swift actions cleared the obstacles for Shen Moer in one fell swoop.

She could have dealt with Mao Jianxin, but without Ceng Huiru, she might have had to put in more effort.

On the day Mao Jianxin left, Shen Moer, Jin Caifei, and several section chiefs and group leaders went to the station to see him off.

The place he thought would lift him to great heights turned out to be where he took a big fall.

Mao Jianxin looked utterly deflated all of a sudden, standing by the roadside and gazing at Shen Moer, whose expression was calm and composed. Reflecting on the past year in Liuqiao Commune, this sharp-eyed and resolute young woman had never actively provoked him; it was always him, driven by apprehension, who had constantly given her a hard time. He sighed deeply: "Comrade Shen Moer, I hope the Ninth Workshop continues to improve."

After all, it was he who had built the factory building bit by bit, though now in a sorry state.

This was akin to a dying man's last kind words.

After Mao Jianxin left, Jin Caifei became much more settled.

Originally, she hadn’t intended to surpass Shen Moer, but as an "outsider," she was always afraid of being ostracized by the locals, so she had cooperated with Mao Jianxin to suppress Shen Moer.

Now, with Mao Jianxin's precedent right in front of her, she no longer had the stomach for stirring up trouble.

Regardless of what was happening in the provincial capital, Shen Moer now had no one causing trouble in the Ninth Workshop, and they quickly caught up on the scheduled production tasks.

As the Ninth Workshop became more and more smooth, in Yangliu Brigade, Tian Fang was livid that her eldest grandson had been expelled and had landed back in the police station for fighting, even causing the previously arranged marriage to fall through. She went around badmouthing Shen Moer for being cold-hearted and ruthless, showing no mercy to family.

Few people in Yangliu Brigade actually listened to her, but it couldn’t be denied that there were always a handful of people who, for one reason or another, held a grudge against Shen Moer. For example, Yang Daniu, who still felt unsettled after Zhou Zhaodi was sent away, or a certain family whose child was ultimately rejected after applying for the Ninth Workshop. In short, although Tian Fang's rhetoric didn’t gain much traction, it wasn’t without its supporters.

This made Shen Jianshe, who was still working in the Ninth Workshop, very awkward.

At home, his brothers and nephews envied him because, apart from Shen Lingling and her husband, he was the only one in the family with a job and a salary. Outside, people thought that while he was working in the factory and earning a salary, his mother was badmouthing the Deputy Director in the village. It was like biting the hand that feeds you, which was really shameless!

Shen Jianshe was in a tough spot.

But when he received his salary at the beginning of the month, he was thrilled.

It was truly a mix of pain and happiness.

Because of this, Shen Laoer's family was also very unsettled, with the two daughters-in-law often at each other's throats, openly or behind closed doors. After Tian Fang finished criticizing Shen Moer outside, she would often come home and take it out on her daughters-in-law as well.

However, Tian Fang soon had no energy to criticize Shen Moer because their family was hit with a bombshell!

The story starts a few months ago. As her belly grew larger, Shen Lingling gradually settled into her pregnancy, and her school courses were slowly handed over to Cheng Tao and Wang Qiutong.

It was during this time that Zhang Junliang began frequently using overtime at the factory as an excuse to stay out late.

Of course, if it was really overtime, staying out late wouldn’t be a big deal, especially since Zhang Junliang's own home was in the commune, and it was normal to stay overnight if it got late.

Then, since Shen Jianshe was working in the Ninth Workshop, the commune leaders, in order to strengthen the connection between the Embroidery Factory and the Textile Factory, had chosen a piece of wasteland not far from the Textile Factory for the Ninth Workshop's location. So, the Ninth Workshop was actually not far from the Textile Factory.

After Zhang Junliang didn’t come home for several days in a row, Shen Lingling, worried about her husband, prepared some boiled eggs, rice cakes, and sweet potato strips for Shen Jianshe to bring to Zhang Junliang, so he could eat when he was hungry during overtime. However, when Shen Jianshe was waiting for Zhang Junliang at the entrance of the Textile Factory, he chatted with the people in the factory's security room.

Hearing that he was from the Ninth Workshop, the security guard's curiosity was piqued, and he pressed Shen Jianshe for details about the former workshop director who had been beaten black and blue after being ambushed.

Although Shen Jianshe felt a bit awkward, he still vaguely explained, and as he talked, he casually asked if the Textile Factory had been very busy recently with frequent overtime.

This question opened a can of worms.

The security guard, who was most familiar with the working hours of the factory's various departments, looked surprised and said, "Our factory's workshops are quite busy, with heavy textile tasks, but the technical department is fine. Only those on duty need to stay, and the others leave on time. Moreover, workshop overtime never goes past eight o'clock."

Shen Jianshe was taken aback. When Zhang Junliang came out to get the things, he was still deep in thought. Zhang Junliang didn’t pay much attention; he had never cared much about his wife's family, and even now that Shen Jianshe had become a worker, he didn’t hold him in high regard.

A warehouse keeper, not even a workshop worker, was still worlds apart from someone like him who worked in technology.

Moreover, this matter really couldn’t be thought about too deeply. If he thought about it too much, he would inevitably think of Shen Moer.

Now, Shen Shaoyuan was already the deputy section chief of the propaganda section at the kiln factory, and Shen Moer had become the deputy workshop director of the Embroidery Factory's subordinate workshop. In fact, it seemed not far from becoming the workshop director.

If it were someone unrelated, Zhang Junliang would only feel envy, but this person was Shen Moer, whom he had once courted and almost married. Every time he thought about it, he felt a pang of regret, as if he'd let a fortune slip through his fingers.

If, if he had married Shen Moer back then, their family of three would all be factory workers now, living in a small apartment in the commune's residential compound. Moreover, when he competed for the positions of deputy chief and chief of the technical department, the factory leaders would have shown him some respect considering Shen Shaoyuan and Shen Moer.

In any case, he couldn't dwell on it too much, as he felt like he might burst with frustration at any moment.

In comparison, Shen Lingling and her family were simply too unimpressive, a group of crude and miserly villagers.

Zhang Junliang felt disdain in his heart but maintained politeness on the surface. After thanking his brother-in-law, he grabbed the items and headed back to the factory.

Oh, by the way, he also asked Shen Jianshe to pass a message to Shen Lingling, saying he would only have time to return home on the weekend.

Shen Jianshe went to work full of doubts, feeling out of sorts all day. When he got home, he told Shen Lingling what he had heard.

Shen Lingling didn't immediately suspect Zhang Junliang; instead, she defended her husband: "What do those security guards know? They're not even in the same department."

Since the person involved didn't believe it, Shen Jianshe felt relieved. It was better not to believe; he hoped the security guards were just talking nonsense.

Although Shen Lingling said she didn't believe it, she carefully recalled the events of the past few months in her heart, and doubt began to take root.

Once the seed of doubt was planted, some details she had previously overlooked began to catch her attention. Soon, Shen Lingling noticed that Zhang Junliang's clothes sometimes carried an unfamiliar scent—maybe from soap or lotion—but it was definitely not any of the products she used.

Then there was Zhang Junliang's perfunctory expression when he spoke caring words, or the times when he appeared completely preoccupied, as if he hadn't heard a word she had just said.

When Shen Lingling asked Zhang Junliang for money and coupons to prepare some malted milk and fabric for their unborn child, Zhang Junliang claimed that his money and coupons for the month had been borrowed by a colleague. Shen Lingling felt as if she had been drenched in icy water, chilled from head to toe.

Shen Lingling was not a patient person. She had been obedient to Zhang Junliang because she took pride in having a husband who was a skilled worker and because he had been gentle and considerate to her after their marriage.

Now, knowing that Zhang Junliang might be cheating on her, Shen Lingling felt that every time she stepped out of the house, she would suspect that anyone who glanced her way was mocking her.

Of course, Shen Lingling couldn't bear this humiliation, so she told her parents. Then, along with Shen Yongjun and his wife, as well as Shen Jianye and Shen Jianshe, the entire family started to keep tabs on Zhang Junliang.

When the autumn wind blew in September, Zhang Junliang was finally caught in the act.

As for Shen Moer, she didn't witness the spectacle of the Shen Laoer family catching the cheaters in the middle of the night. She learned about it from Liu Guizhi.

"The whole family staked out the alley early, waiting for Zhang Junliang to enter the courtyard. They held back for over ten minutes before making their move, kicking the door open and rushing into the courtyard. Zhang Junliang and his mistress were caught in the nude," Liu Guizhi said with a wink.

Shen Moer thought about it and felt something was off: "They made such a spectacle catching the cheaters and even shouted in the alley. Aren't they afraid of affecting Zhang Junliang's job?"

Since it was nighttime, if they hadn't shouted, it wouldn't have spread like wildfire, right?

Shen Moer felt that, based on her understanding of her second uncle Shen Yongjun's family, they wouldn't engage in such a fruitless endeavor. Catching the cheaters and leveraging it to manipulate Zhang Junliang would be the usual tactic. Causing such a commotion didn't do their family any favors.

In these times, not many women filed for divorce just because their husband was unfaithful.

Since they wouldn't divorce, they certainly wouldn't want to affect Zhang Junliang's job either.

Liu Guizhi's mouth twitched as she said, "Their family was actually somewhat unfortunate. They lurked in the alley late at night, convinced they were hidden, but the neighbors had already spotted them. The neighbors suspected they were up to no good and, seeing their numbers, discreetly tipped off the police. When the police arrived, they happened to catch them breaking into the small courtyard. Seeing them forcibly entering a private residence, the police immediately followed and found the whole family pinning down two naked individuals. They promptly hauled the entire group to the police station."

Shen Moer: "..."

She suddenly felt that her second uncle's family had some inexplicable connection with the police station.

Look, Shen Minbing had been to the police station for stealing bricks, and he went back for beating Mao Jianxin—that was his second time. Then, when Wang Jinbao was taken to the police station, Tian Fang and the others also ended up there for fighting. Now, they caught the cheaters and the whole family was taken to the police station again... The cops must have them on their radar by now.

Liu Guizhi asked mysteriously, "Do you know who Zhang Junliang's mistress is? You'd never guess."

Shen Moer thought to herself that she might not know the woman's identity, but she had seen her before—early in the morning, being all lovey-dovey with Zhang Junliang on the street. Her father had mentioned back then that the two had an unclear relationship.

"Who is it?"

Liu Guizhi said in an exaggerated tone: "It's Zhang Junliang's cousin!"

She shook her head in disbelief: "Cousins aren't allowed to marry; it's against national policy, but they went ahead and did this anyway. I heard that his cousin was married in the county, but she got divorced last year, returned to her parents' home with her daughter, didn't get along with them, so she moved out and rented that small courtyard where they were caught. The rent is quite steep, reportedly all covered by Zhang Junliang. Zhang Junliang was often seen coming and going from that courtyard. It's a bit of a distance from the textile factory and the kiln, so no one there knew Zhang Junliang. Before the affair came to light, the neighbors assumed they were a family of three."

Liu Guizhi suddenly said: "Oh, by the way, the family that caught them is also from Yangliu Brigade, you probably know them, right? I heard Zhang Junliang's family is short on housing, so he lives with his in-laws, which means he lives in Yangliu Brigade. You’ve probably seen him around, right?"

Shen Moer’s expression turned complicated. Though she was reluctant to admit it, she had to: "The family you mentioned that caught them should be my second uncle's family, and that Zhang Junliang should be my cousin's husband."

"…………………………"

Liu Guizhi looked embarrassed and forced a smile: "Ah, so that's how it is?"

What to do? Gossiping about someone only to find out it’s Shen Moer’s relative.

Shen Moer smiled: "It's okay, our family isn’t on good terms with them, and we don't interact much."

Liu Guizhi instantly felt relieved: "I thought so, Teacher Shen is such a decent person, how could he have such irresponsible brothers?" Here, Teacher Shen refers to Shen Shaoyuan. Since her husband Zhou Ping'an became Shen Shaoyuan's apprentice, Liu Guizhi has always referred to him as Teacher Shen.

Liu Guizhi: "Oh, so that means Zhang Junliang’s wife, who was so upset she went into premature labor, is your cousin?!"

Shen Moer only then found out that Shen Lingling had been so upset she went into premature labor. That night, she was sent to the county people's hospital, and the baby was already born, a boy. Both mother and child had already been sent back to Yangliu Brigade to recover.

Well, Fu Mingze has been really busy lately, either going to the county or to other brigades in the commune. He hasn't been back to Yangliu Brigade for a while, and the ninth workshop is also scrambling to prepare exhibits for the Canton Fair. Everyone is so busy that even rest days have been canceled, so no one was aware that Shen Lingling had already given birth.

Shen Moer thought to herself that it had been a while since she went back to Yangliu Brigade. She had planned to give everyone a break that weekend, so she figured she might as well visit Shen Lingling in Yangliu Brigade.

After all, they are cousins and have worked together. Shen Lingling has just given birth, so Shen Moer is planning to buy something and go see her.

Of course, if she goes to see Shen Lingling now, given Shen Lingling’s personality, she might assume Shen Moer was deliberately going there to mock her.

Shen Moer could guess Shen Lingling's thoughts, but she didn't mind. After all, she was about to go to Guangdong Province, and she wouldn't have time later.

So on the weekend, Shen Moer and Zhao Tingting went back to the village together.

Zhao Tingting also planned to represent her family to visit Shen Lingling. Although their family doesn't interact much with their uncles, they haven't completely cut off ties. For major events like weddings, funerals, and childbirth, they still exchange courtesies.

The two of them first bought some things at the supply and marketing cooperative, then rode Shen Shaoyuan's bicycle back to Yangliu Brigade.

After entering the village, the villagers warmly greeted Shen Moer. When they heard she was going to visit Shen Lingling, they all showed a complicated expression. Shen Moer thought their expression was because of the affair, until they met Wang Qiutong, who was also planning to visit Shen Lingling, not far from Shen Lingling's house.

Wang Qiutong originally had no interaction with Shen Lingling, but now they are colleagues at the same school. There are only three colleagues in the entire school, one of whom is a male colleague, so Wang Qiutong, as a female colleague, had to take on the responsibility of visiting the newly delivered female colleague.

But she really didn't want to go!

Otherwise, she wouldn't have procrastinated until now.

Wang Qiutong's expression was just as complicated as the commune members before: "If it weren't for the fact that we are colleagues and Principal Cheng is a male colleague, I really wouldn't want to go."

Zhao Tingting said naively: "It's just a visit, say a few words and leave, it's fine."

Wang Qiutong gave her a complicated look, thinking this child is still too naive: "I don't even want to take a look!"

Although it was a bit awkward, in order to prepare Shen Moer and Zhao Tingting, Wang Qiutong explained: "Zhang Junliang's cousin, that woman named Fang Yuhua, is also at Shen Lingling's house."

Zhao Tingting widened her eyes: "What?!"

Wang Qiutong wore an expression that said, "Now you know how little you've seen," and said helplessly, "She's now living at Shen Lingling's house, serving Shen Lingling during her postpartum confinement."

Shen Moer: "..."

Zhao Tingting: "..."

What on earth is going on here?!

No wonder the villagers all had that mysterious, hard-to-put-into-words look.

After all, such a thing is truly unheard of!

Well, not entirely—Shen Moer had seen it before, but that was in Great Liang, where men who took in concubines or chambermaids would have them pay respects to the main wife morning and evening, and serve her in daily life.

But here’s the thing—this isn’t Great Liang. Even Shen Moer, an 'outsider,' has slowly come to accept the ways of this world and fully supports systems like monogamy and gender equality.

Shen Lingling, a 'homegrown' high schooler, would actually let her husband’s mistress move in?!

Well, this is something.

This is just hard to wrap your head around.